He snorts a laugh. “Yeah, I don’t really take any days off. It works out pretty well that my boss is one of my best friends, so it doesn’t always feel like work.”
“That must benice. So how did you guys meet? Did you ever date?” I ask, wondering if Beckett Caldwell could be the “babe” he was picturing this morning. I know he has a boyfriend now, but maybe Adrian is jealous?
He scoffs. “Definitely not. We met in college, but we never dated. He and our other friend, Jordan, gave me a place to stay when I had issues with a roommate, and we’ve all been friends since.”
I don’t know why, but I’m relieved by his answer, and I love how freely he shared it. I want to ask about the issues with the roommate. I actually want to know everything about him that he’s willing to share, but I don’t want to sound too eager. And I shouldn’t care who he’s dated; I should be supportive of my friend. “That’s awesome you’re all still close. Most of my friends are also current or former hockey players, so we don’t have a ton of time to spend together. Hopefully I can catch up with some of them after this season.”
“Yeah, that’ll be such a change of pace for you to have free time.”
Shit. I shouldn’t have made it about me again when he was talking about himself. Well, maybe if I open up more, he’ll be more comfortable doing the same. “I’m just hoping I won’t be alone for too long. I had all these visions of becoming a dad and having all that time to dedicate to my family.”
“It’ll happen,” he assures me with a supportive smile. “I might be overstepping by saying this, but Shelby was an idiot who didn’t know how good she had it. Anyone would be lucky to end up with you.”
I let out a relieved breath, feeling like a weight has been lifted from my chest at Adrian’s assurance. He makes it so easy to open up to him. “No overstepping. I actually really appreciate you saying that. I’ve been trying to tell myself that we just wanted different things, but it’s still hard not to second-guess myself, orwonder what I did wrong and if I’ll make the same mistakes when I do try dating again.”
“Be yourself, and whoever you give attention to will fall for you in no time. And make sure you’re clear that you eventually want to have kids. Maybe ease them into your ideal timeline for that though,” he teases.
“Is ‘I want to be a dad’ not a good first date topic?” I joke.
“Just make sure you don’t say ‘daddy’ because then you’ll be setting them up with very different expectations,” he teases. “Unless of course you’re into that, I’m not kink shaming.”
I burst out laughing at the thought of asking my date to call me that. “Not my thing,” I confirm when I calm down. “But thank you for the advice. So, do you have more work to do? Or do you want to hang out?”
“Nah, I should be free for a bit. Did you want to finish the movie?”
“Eventually, yes, because I was really enjoying it, even if I fell asleep, but I was actually wondering if you might be able to help me look through the dating profiles?” I flash a hopeful smile. “Doing it on my own seems overwhelming, and I know you already helped so much setting it up, but I’d love to be able to talk through it with you.”
He hesitates, and for a moment, I worry he’s going to turn me down. Is it bad that I asked? Before I can panic too much though, he answers. “Sure.” Then he’s smirking. “What would you do without me?”
“I’m seriously starting to wonder,” I chuckle.
I move to the couch, getting comfortable in the corner and stretch my legs out. “I got the app on my phone too,” I comment as I log in. Adrian comes around the couch and hesitates, so I pat the cushion next to me. “We’ll need to both see the screen.”
“Right,” he says quietly before joining me on the couch. Butwhen he does, he’s kind of stiff, sitting up straight, not a blanket or extra pillow in sight.
I pull up the first woman’s profile, but right away I don’t think she’d be a good match. She reminds me too much of Shelby, so I move on. The next person has similar vibes, based on the very posed and curated images, I’m just getting a sense that they care more about their appearance than I’m hoping for in my partner.
“Sooo are you going to show me anything, or am I here in more of a moral support capacity?” Adrian jokes when the next profile is also not my vibe.
I playfully roll my eyes. “Well, you’re all the way over there, how are we both supposed to see the screen?”
He looks around then back at me with a disbelieving smile. “Over where? I am literally right next to you on this giant couch.”
“I know, but your posture is so proper it’s like you’re on high-alert or something. Scooch in closer and get comfy. I won’t bite,” I tease.
He lets out a surprised laugh. “Okay, what the fuck are you expecting? Any closer and we’ll basically be cuddling.”
“Yes! That would be perfect actually, great idea,” I agree. “You can lay your head on my chest, and then we’ll both be able to see the screen.”
He stares at me, blinking a few times without responding or making any moves to lay on me. “You want to cuddle with me?” he finally asks.
“Well, don’t sound so surprised. I did promise you this morning that we could cuddle later,” I remind him in a light tone.
“You did what?” he asks, sounding completely surprised. “When the hell did you promise me cuddling? I would definitely remember that.”
“In your bed this morning?” I prompt, but that only makes his eyes goeven wider.
“There is no way you were in my bed this morning promising to cuddle me! I would absolutely remember that.”
